Morning Links: Streetsblog talks with LACBC’s Erik Jansen, Massachusetts bikelash, and CiclaValley hits a deer

September 27, 2017 / / One comment

It’s a light news day, so let’s get right to it.

Then get out on your bike and enjoy this beautiful LA weather.

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Forbes says the Israel start for next year’s Giro poses a difficult dilemma for pro cycling’s two Arab-owned teams, who must decide whether to participate in the Arab boycott of the country.

Call it Lance’s revenge. The French lab that uncovered proof of his doping has been provisionally suspended by the world anti-doping agency.

Italian cycling great Mario Cipollini complains that the dominance of Chris Froome and Peter Sagan has made bike racing boring. Maybe he didn’t see Sagan’s three-inch come-from-behind victory in Sunday’s world championships.

……….

Local

Streetsblog offers an interview with new LACBC Executive Director Erik Jansen.

Bicycling talks with former UCLA triathlete Nako Nakatsuka, who was unfairly sued by the driver who hit her, about her new bike advocacy website Bike Woke.

Wallet Hub ranks the most fun cities in the US, based on criteria that includes bike rentals and hiking trails, but not bikeways. Which may be why Los Angeles just barely missed the top ten, checking in at number twelve. That’s better than Oxnard, though, which ranks as the least fun city in the US.

San Francisco’s Beyond Chron website looks at former USC bike repairman Lil Bill Flournoy, who was unceremoniously booted off campus last year, and now fixes bikes on a city-owned space across from the university.

CiclaValley collides with a deer while riding on Mulholland. And of course, does it when his bike cam isn’t working.

 

State

A German dentist paused briefly in San Diego on his 19,000-mile bike ride from Argentina to Alaska.

A San Francisco supervisor is shocked to learn Uber and Lyft drivers illegally use bike and transit lanes; people who bike and ride buses, not so much.

Bay Area bike shops are being plagued by a serial test-ride thief.

 

National

Former DC and Chicago transportation director Gabe Klein says smart cities are the wave of the future.

Bighearted Idaho paramedics bought a new bike for a 13-year old boy after his was damaged when he was hit by a driver, along with bike helmets for his brothers and sisters.

A kindhearted stranger bought a new bike for an Illinois boy battling cancer after his bike was stolen.

An Indiana suburb is proving that it is possible to remake the streets to accommodate everyone.

It’s not just LA. Cambridge MA is experiencing their own bikelash as residents rise up to complain about the overly rapid implementation of a whole 1.25 miles of bike lanes in one year, leading to an apology from the mayor. Yes, just over a single mile.

New York bicyclists complain they’re being left out of a redesign of New York’s famed Fifth Avenue.

A New York man faces up to 15 years behind bars after being convicted in the hit-and-run death of a Queens bike advocate.

An Op-Ed in the Washington Post says it was reckless for lawmakers to drop a requirement that all bikes must have a bell, insisting that a polite little ding is more effective than yelling a warning.

 

International

A cyclist from my hometown rides the route traveled by Spanish conqueror Cortes from Veracruz to Mexico City.

A Toronto Op-Ed says new separated bike lanes are encouraging more “normal” people to come out and ride, while noting that removing these lanes could make those people go away.

Caught on video: Sometimes it’s the cops who violate safe passing laws, coming within inches of a UK bicyclist on a blind corner.

Britain’s Labour Party pledges to invest £10 per person for bike and pedestrian projects each year. Which would work out to roughly $4.3 billion here in the US. Note: I originally wrote $4.3 trillion; thanks to Andy S. for the correction. 

A writer in the Guardian says Google Maps must be improved if it’s going to be useful for bike riders, including information on bike parking once you get where you’re going.

It takes a truly massive schmuck to steal the custom racing handcycle specifically made for an Aussie Paralympic cyclist, which even can’t be used by anyone else.

Motorists in five Australian states will now face a $159 fine for violating their equivalent of a three foot law, prohibiting passing closer than one meter on roads with speed limits over 37 mph, and one and a half meters over that.

China’s bikeshare boom is cutting into the demand for gas.

 

Finally…

Give up your ironic hipster beard or your Belgian cycling career. And yes, your new Google Levi jacket can make and receive texts and calls, but you may have to put up with the smell.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Update: 78-year old Bicycle Club of Irvine member killed in Laguna Canyon crash

September 26, 2017 / / 3 comments

Patch is reporting that there was a fatal collision involving a bike rider in Lake Forest this morning.

According to the site, the victim was riding with other bicyclists near the intersection of State Route 133 and Lake Forest Drive when he was hit by a car around 10 am this morning.

Identified only as an adult man, he was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

No other information is available at this time.

If confirmed, this would be the 45th bicycling collision in Southern California this year, and the seventh in Orange County.

Update: The Orange County Register tells a completely different story. 

According to the Register, a 78-year old man was killed when he crashed his bike into the back of a car parked on the right shoulder while riding south on Laguna Canyon Road around 9:51 am.

My News LA places the location near Lake Forest Drive in Irvine, as shown in the original map. 

The victim has not been publicly identified. 

Update 2: The victim has been identified as Gary Thomsen, a member of the Bicycle Club of Irvine. 

He was on the club’s regular Tuesday morning ride when he crashed into a Caltrans truck that was stopped on the shoulder, possibly after suffering a medical emergency. 

The group doubled back when they learned of the crash, and discovered a doctor had already stopped and was performing CPR, to no avail.

His neighbors Sandi and John Carpenter offered a remembrance and a photo of Thompsen. 

Gary and Fern were married for 54 years.  They have three children and two grandsons.

He was always athletic, played football in college, then began running and after
retiring from IBM he became an active cyclist.  He loved working on bikes and decided to go to the Barnett Bicycle Institute in Colorado Springs Colorado and be certified.  He volunteered at the Bone Adventure Dog Day Care Center  for many years.  He and Leigh loved to travel.

Gary being the kind, gentle person became our local go-to bike mechanic in the neighborhood as he was always willing to help.  He was dubbed the “Fix bike for a beer” man.

He will be deeply missed by many.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Gary Thomsen and all his loved ones.

Thanks to Lois and John for the heads-up; thanks to Bill Sellin for the update.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Erik Jansen replaces Tamika Butler as LACBC ED; Delaware could adopt Idaho Stop

September 26, 2017 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Erik Jansen replaces Tamika Butler as LACBC ED; Delaware could adopt Idaho Stop

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition has decided to promote from within, turning to interim Executive Director Erik Jansen to replace the irreplaceable Tamika Butler as head of the coalition.

Jansen, the Deputy Executive Director of Advancement, stepped up to fill the void after Butler announced her resignation last June. And was selected to remain as head of the organization by the coalition’s board of directors, following a nationwide search.

Building upon the national reputation the LACBC enjoyed under previous ED Jennifer Klausner for its groundbreaking efforts to reach out to LA’s immigrant community, Tamika Butler led the organization in refocusing its efforts on building equity in underserved communities.

And in doing so, became a leading voice for the underprivileged and people of color within the bicycling community nationwide.

Now it will be interesting to see if Jansen continues those efforts, or moves the LACBC back to a more mainstream form of bicycle advocacy.

He comes at a time of unprecedented bikelash in the City of Angels, with bike lanes and safety projects under fire in Mar Vista and Playa del Rey. And as a lawsuit against the city, and a recall campaign to unseat Councilmember Mike Bonin, attempt to derail LA’s Vision Zero program and intimidate councilmembers to prevent any future lane reductions.

The LACBC has grown to become a mature advocacy group over the past several years. And will need strong leadership to help LA become the bikeable, livable community it must become.

You can meet Erik Jansen when the LACBC hosts a Handlebar Happy Hour at Pure Cycles in Burbank tonight, with free food and drink courtesy of BikinginLA sponsor Jim Pocrass.

Photo from LACBC.

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Delaware could become just the second state in the country to legalize the Idaho Stop.

Hopefully California won’t be too far behind.

………

Male pro cyclists get a boost in the minimum wage, but women riders still don’t even have a guarantee of getting paid.

Britain governing body for cycling hopes to create a women’s cycling team patterned on the successful Team Sky.

A reminder to always cover-up or wear sunscreen when you ride, as retired Columbian racer Lucho Herrera blames cycling for his skin cancer. Something I can relate to, and more than once.

Sometimes a wicked time trial crash is the best form of advertising.

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Local

KPCC reports on the bike and pedestrian count conducted over the weekend by Los Angeles Walks and the LACBC.

The MyFigueroa project is just one of the projects changing the face of DTLA’s Figueroa corridor.

UCLA will launch an on-campus bikeshare program next week.

KNBC-4 looks at the COAST Open Streets Festival coming to Santa Monica this Sunday.

 

State

The San Diego Bicycle Coalition is looking for public input on plans for the pre-Halloween CicloSDias open streets event to be held next month.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 81-year old North San Diego County man rode 4,200 miles across Canada in 56 days as part of a church group ride.

San Francisco moves forward with plans to sort of crack down on bicycle chop shops without actually making them illegal; a homeless advocate argues that they’re just an entrepreneurial way to for homeless people to make a living recycling bike parts that they happen to find. Except too often, they happen to find bikes that belong to other people.

A 63-year old Napa woman is back home after riding solo 5,000 miles across the US.

 

National

The Denver Post lists Colorado’s best mountain bike trails for your next trip to the Centennial State.

Police in Colorado arrested a man accused of threatening mountain bike riders with a hatchet, on the same trail where a rider was fatally shot a week earlier.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever ambushed a 13-year old Colorado boy in a park to steal his bicycle.

A 19-year old Fargo SD man was killed in a bicycle collision over the weekend, three years after he was deliberately run down in a dispute with a breakaway Mormon religious sect while riding his bike in Utah.

Bike lanes get the blame for traffic congestion in Minneapolis, even though construction projects are likely the real culprits. Never mind that the local TV station couldn’t seem to find any traffic backups to show in the report, despite taking the time to count bikes and cars during the morning and evening rush hours.

The Today Show’s Al Roker is one of us, making room on his daily bike commute for new co-star Megyn Kelly.

No bias here. When a bikeshare rider was hit by a New York Uber driver, the NYPD went out of its way to blame the victim, even though a witness said the driver was at fault.

 

International

Mexico City residents are using bicycles to deliver emergency supplies and help victims of last week’s earthquake.

The war on bikes continues. A Montreal man was seriously injured when he fell off his bike trying to avoid fishing line that had been strung at neck level across a bridge on a bike path.

A Toronto bike rider says the city’s car-first policies create a war on people, as a backlash results in the removal of stop signs that had gone through a community-driven public approval process.

Kindhearted Brits contribute the equivalent of $4,000 to replace the custom-made trike that allowed a man with cerebral palsy to ride, after his was stolen.

The Guardian says government efforts to criminalize reckless bicycling in the UK are ignoring the cause of 99% of the country’s fatal crashes to focus on just 0.12% of them, calling it headline grabbing hypocrisy.

Amsterdam is cracking down on unauthorized dockless bikeshare systems.

An Istanbul man fights his own depression by documenting his journeys around Turkey on his 1960s bicycle with photos and inspiring messages, earning 130,000 Instagram followers in the process.

An Israeli website takes a two-wheeled tor through bicycle history in the county.

Someone is dumping dockless bikeshare bikes into an Australian river; contractors pulled out 40 bicycles in just four hours. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

China’s Mobike and Ofo are battling for world domination in the dockless bikeshare market.

 

Finally…

Next time you sign up for a bike race, make sure it’s in the right country. Your next jean jacket could be more connected than a mafia hitman.

And now you, too, can live like America’s only remaining Tour de France winner for just $5 million.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: More on the all too real war on bikes, world championship highlights, and #1 on a bike trail

September 25, 2017 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: More on the all too real war on bikes, world championship highlights, and #1 on a bike trail

We’re finally back after missing the last two Mondays due to technical issues.

So if it only seems like we’ve been offline for a year, why am I a year older than I was when this all started?

………

More proof that while the alleged war on cars in a myth, the war on bikes is all too real.

Colorado sheriff’s deputies were investigating reports of a man threatening mountain bikers with a hatchet on the same trail where a rider was found shot to death last week.

A report on Twitter says a British century ride was sabotaged when someone poured oil over the roadway. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

And a mountain biker in the UK was lucky to avoid serious injury when someone left barbed wire piled on a trail.

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Spoiler alert: If you still have the worlds in your viewing cue, skip to the next section.

Peter Sagan won by mere inches to make it a three-peat in the world championships, while Dutch rider Chantal Blaak won the women’s road race over Australian Katrin Garfoot.

Another race, another cyclist injured in a collision with race vehicles.

Cycling Tips offers a photo essay of the men’s world championship races.

The Giro d’Italia is accused of “sports-washing of Israel’s occupation and apartheid” with their Jerusalem start in next year’s race. Race organizers hope politics will stay out of the race. Good luck with that.

UCI’s new boss makes a much needed call for organizers and TV to boost women’s bike racing, and plans to crack down on motor doping and other forms of technological fraud.

Nice article on 13 cycling legends every road cyclist should know. Although someone should tell them it is actually possible to ride a road bike without any interest in bike racing, or need for it.

……….

Local

LA County’s bike riding public health director announces he will be leaving his position and heading back to New York at the end of the year.

Letter writers in the Times discuss a recent editorial accusing entitled drivers of getting in the way of the state’s climate goals; the first writer makes the paper’s point for them with absolutely no sense of the irony.

A man was shot to death while riding his bicycle through a Norwalk parking lot Thursday night.

Santa Monica’s COAST Festival returns for a second year this Sunday, offering a ciclovía to help get you ready for CicLAvia the following week; the city offers tips on what not to miss.

A new garden and bench were dedicated to fallen 13-year old bike rider Ciara Smith, who was killed in a collision with a Metro bus in Redondo Beach last May.

 

State

A San Diego woman gets her stolen bike back when a total stranger spots a man riding it, after seeing her post on Facebook.

An eight-year old Palm Springs boy was given a custom-made lowrider bicycle by the Make-A-Wish Foundation after battling kidney cancer for the last five years.

The Bay Area’s East Contra Costa County is working towards solving the first mile/last mile problem by improving bike routes leading to and from a new BART station.

San Francisco’s Curbed offers a short course in sidewalk etiquette, including the admonition to get off and walk your bike. Which is good advice on any crowded walkway, whether or not it’s legal to ride on it.

 

National

CleanTechnica explains everything you always wanted to know about ebikes but were afraid to ask. Or maybe not.

Outside offers advice on the seven essential items you need to start mountain biking for the low, low price of just $2,000. Or you could just buy a helmet and a used bike for a couple hundred, slap on some gloves and start riding.

A off-duty Navajo Nation cop faces DUI and manslaughter charges after sideswiping an SUV and running down an bike rider on the sidewalk, then blowing through a red light before crashing into Glendale AZ police cruiser.

Thousands of bicycles abandoned at Burning Man will be shipped to Houston and the Caribbean to aid hurricane victims.

Texas cops use their bikes to sneak up on drug dealers and other criminals who might be spooked by a police cruiser.

More people are skipping the traffic and commuting to St. Louis by bicycle.

A Minneapolis writer offers seven things to know about what he terms the city’s asinine fight over bike lanes on the south side. Most of which translates to the similarly asinine battle over bike lanes and road diets on LA’s Westside.

WNBA star Sylvia Fowles donated her entire $15,000 league MVP bonus to a Minnesota organization that helps low-income girls get access to bicycles.

Nothing like the British press’ breathless hysteria over a New York actor sharing a bike with his kids. Seriously, am I the only one who wants to slap their editors and say get over it already?

A second Boston-area bicyclist has been arrested for refusing to stop for a bike cop after blowing a stop sign on a bike trail. Seriously, just stop, take the ticket and fight it in court. Beats the hell out of spending a night behind bars.

The Washington Post reviews DC’s four new dockless bikeshare systems.

 

International

A Cycling Weekly Op-Ed says a kneejerk law prohibiting dangerous cycling won’t solve the problems on the country’s roads. On the other hand, overly careless or aggressive bicyclists should face consequences for their actions, just like drivers should but too often don’t.

Caught on video: An English driver just barely avoids hitting a bicycle with a child on the back as the rider blows through a red light; however, the driver starts going before the light changes, too.

The BBC asks, ala Rodney King, if cyclists and other road users can get along. Short answer, of course. If — and only if — everyone involved actually wants to, however.

A Brit radio program is shocked! shocked! to find brakeless fixies for sale in London, despite a ban on bike without brakes.

Dublin’s bikeshare system has helped double the number of daily bicyclists in the city to 96,000 in just six years.

Amsterdam turns off the traffic signals, and chaos does not result. Good luck achieving the same results with LA’s overly entitled drivers, however.

A new German study explains how bicycling effects the brains of Parkinson’s patients, after previous studies have shown noted improvement in symptoms while riding.

A bike advocacy group in Malta calls for bicyclists to be allowed to use highway tunnels.

Phuket, Thailand joined nearly 850 cities in 25 countries in going carfree on Sunday. No surprise that Los Angeles was not one of them.

Japanese bicyclists are rushing to buy liability insurance after courts have given huge damage awards in cases involving bike riders. Here in the US, your automotive insurance and/or homeowner’s or renter’s insurance should cover you, but check with your agent to be sure.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could be a wood sandwich. Get a weight weenie’s dream for just $12,000.

And it’s one thing to relieve yourself on the side of a bike trail, another to dump 50 gallons of number one next to one.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Update: Bike rider killed in Lake Elsinore, no details available

September 24, 2017 / / One comment

A bike rider was killed in Lake Elsinore early Sunday morning. Unfortunately, almost no information is available.

According to the Press-Enterprise, the victim was struck by a vehicle on the 32000 block of Mission Trail in Lake Elsinore at 2:39 am, and died at the scene.

A street view shows a divided commercial roadway with two lanes in each direction, and a poorly marked painted bike lane on each side.

No information has been released about the victim or how the crash occurred.

This is the 44th bicycling fatality this year, and the fifth in Riverside County.

Update: The victim has been identified as 57-year old Edward Carrothers; no word on where he lived. The occurred on Mission Trail near Sedco Blvd, which is several blocks south of where it was placed by the original report. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Edward Carrothers and his loved ones.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: An interview with yours truly, bikeshare around the world, and what’s left after the La Tuna Fire

September 22, 2017 / / 5 comments

I’m back.

In more ways than one.

The latest computer problem was solved with the painful realization that Apple’s iCloud is not your friend. Once that was mostly shut down, the problems I was having seem to have disappeared.

But while BikinginLA was down yesterday, my words were going up somewhere else.

Wes Salmon, host of the popular Seattle podcast The Group Ride, recently made the big move down to Southern California.

And for reasons known only to him, one of the first things he wanted to do after moving here was to invite me to appear on his show.

Personally, I would have gone to Disneyland instead.

Although talking to me was about a hundred dollars cheaper. And only slightly less likely to induce you to lose your lunch.

Nevertheless, yesterday he posted his full 42 minute interview with me. Which should make the perfect soundtrack to today’s post, if your ears and eyes can manage to multitask better than mine.

I haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet, so let me know if I embarrassed myself.

Or more likely, how badly.

………

Today’s common theme is bikeshare.

Dockless bikeshare company Spin didn’t bother waiting for city permits before rolling their first bikes out in San Francisco. And San Franciscans didn’t bother waiting to break the rules on where those bikes could be left — or walking off with a wheel.

Seattle bikeshare riders aren’t being ticketed for riding without a helmet, even though they’re required in the city; meanwhile, the privately owned dockless bikeshares are looking promising. And yes, one may have something to do with the other.

Bikeshare is about to become more practical, as DC will be one of the first cities in the US to get a dockless ebike system, while Chinese dockless bikeshare company Mobike makes a beachhead in the US with its new DC system.

A South Carolina writer insists helmets should be required for bikeshare users. Although it should be noted that there have been just two bikeshare fatalities anywhere in the US, with or without helmets. Which makes it seem like a solution in search of a problem.

A new bikeshare system at a Pakistani university is bringing greater freedom to female students.

Even North Korea has jumped on the bikeshare bandwagon, as fuel supplies get tighter.

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In a heartbreaking post for anyone who knows the area, the Radavist rides through the Verdugo Mountains to examine the damage caused by the La Tuna Fire earlier this month.

………

Chris Froome couldn’t make it a three-peat as Tom Dumoulin won the time trial at the world championships.

Caught on video: A Norwegian cop levels a fan who got a little too close to the action at the worlds, while bored fans cheer a leaping squirrel.

Cycling’s governing body has a new president, as France’s David Lappartient takes the helm at UCI after outgoing president Brian Cookson gets the boot.

Recently retired cyclist Tyler Farrar says despite the recent drought, US men’s cycling is just in a transitional phase, with new top riders on the horizon. One of whom may be Colorado’s Sepp Kuss, who’ll be riding for Team LottoNL-Jumbo next year.

……….

Local

LA Councilmember Bob Blumenfield says the old Rocketdyne site in the San Fernando Valley would be the perfect site for Amazon’s new second headquarters. However, he seems to forget that the company insists on locating in a bikeable community; something LA’s current anti-road diet, anti-bike lane hysteria is likely to preclude.

Four LA bicyclists — some of whom you may recognize — describe their favorite LA-area rides to see the city from a different perspective.

An editorial in the LA Times says entitled drivers are getting in the way of California’s climate change goals. Too bad the rest of the editorial doesn’t hit as hard as the headline.

The student newspaper at Santa Monica College offers a look at the controversy over the Venice Blvd Great Streets project.

The Argonaut says the proposed campaign to recall Mike Bonin is off to a rocky start, as both sides trade accusations.

West Hollywood is considering changes on three streets to improve bike and pedestrian safety, including sharrows and bike traffic signals. Tell them they can save the money they’d spend on sharrows, which only seem to help drivers improve their aim.

 

State

A Thousand Oaks letter writer accuses the city of social engineering by requiring apartment builders to provide “only” an average of two parking spaces per unit, and allowing adjacent street parking to count towards that requirement. Never mind that the entire history of driving could fit that description.

A Santa Barbara paper says yes, you can go grocery shopping by bicycle.

Great story. One year after a South Carolina man was nearly paralyzed in a collision while riding his bike, he’ll be running in a Napa half marathon, accompanied by the surgeon who saved him — and the driver who hit him.

Davis is the first American city to host the International Cycling Safety Conference.

 

National

Curbed offers 101 ways to improve transportation in your city, several of which include bicycling.

A writer for VeloNews says Interbike may be moving, but it’s still worth a trip to Las Vegas just to ride the trails.

The Denver Bronco’s C.J. Anderson is one of us, regaining his starting job after building endurance by riding his bike.

Denver is about to get a curb-protected bike lane in front of the city’s train station to keep drivers from blocking the lane, but only green paint on the other side of the street.

My hometown built an entire five-mile neighborhood bikeway for just $1 million, as part of the city’s low-stress bicycle network. Exactly what LA’s bike plan calls for, but none of which has been built.

An Indiana task force is considering building a 500-mile bike path around the state.

A Boston bike rider is led away in cuffs after she refused to stop for a bike cop who tried to pull her over for rolling a stop on a bike path; she said she kept riding as a protest against police ticketing bicyclists instead of drivers. Seriously, when a cop tries to pull you over, on two wheels or four, just stop already.

A road-raging off-duty New York cop faces charges for pulling a gun on a bike rider after making an illegal U-turn, then knocking the other man off his bike.

Once again, a bike rider rides to the rescue, as a bicyclist in Mississippi discovers two people who had been trapped in a car for over two hours after it had rolled over in a wooded area.

Nice gesture from a kindhearted Georgia man, who bought a homeless man a new bicycle after witnessing the other man’s bike get run over by a truck.

 

International

After a British bike chain stops advertising in right wing newspapers in response to a campaign to stop funding hate, the blacklisted Daily Mail calls it a publicity stunt, while a writer for another paper calls for journalists to boycott the company, describing it an enemy of free speech.

A cyclist in the UK could have been ticketed for a fatal crash with a pedestrian. Except he was the one who died.

An English writer says she’s fed up with selfish, racing cyclists who only have themselves to blame for not getting hell out of the way of drivers who take up the entire road with their SUVs.

The Guardian’s Peter Walker says a new cycling law to criminalize collisions with pedestrians won’t improve safety, and could delay laws that actually would; he notes that an average of just two of the 400 pedestrians killed in traffic collisions in the UK every year are hit by people on bikes.

The war on bikes goes on. A rider was injured in the UK when someone strung wire at neck level across a bike path.

The Netherlands is seeing a jump in fatal collisions as ebikes gain in popularity.

A group of wounded British vets ranging in age from 28 to 74 rode 450 miles through the French Pyrénées along some of the world’s most challenging cycling routes.

The president of Burundi is one of us, too, as he goes for a ride in the suburbs followed by armed soldiers and a full presidential convoy.

 

Finally…

Here’s the solution to hit-and-run drivers — just rip the license plate off the car that hit you. You may want to reflect on your next bicycle. No, literally.

And seriously, don’t ride your bike on the escalator.

……….

Thanks to John P. Lynch for his generous donation to what he describes as the BikinginLA Computer Repair Fund. 

 

Category: Bikeshare, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Move along, nothing to see here. No, seriously.

September 21, 2017 / / 5 comments

Someone just shoot me, already.

After my laptop was out of commission for ten days when the hard drive died, I finally got it back with all my data intact. Only to encounter a problem with permissions that even Apple didn’t have a clue how to solve.

Fortunately, my Mac guy was able to figure out a way to get everything working beautifully again.

Until tonight, that is.

Suddenly, programs that worked fine last night aren’t working at all, and I’m having to reboot my computer every few minutes.

So once again, I give up on posting anything today.

I’ll be back at the shop again this morning, for about the 20th time in the last two weeks. And hopefully, we’ll be back in business again tomorrow.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go beat my head against the wall.

 

Category: General /

Morning Links: Indignorant anti-road diet columnist, bike riders on the wrong end of guns, and more traffic mayhem

September 20, 2017 / / 5 comments

So wrong, in so many ways.

A columnist for the LA Daily News goes out of her way to demonstrate her near total ignorance of traffic safety, Vision Zero and “dangerous” road diets in a column saying the latter belongs in a Museum of Stupid Ideas.

Never mind that road diets have been shown to increase safety up to 47%. But why let a little detail like that get in the way of a good rant?

Then there’s her screed about Vision Zero coming from — gasp! — Sweden.

Common sense would tell you that traffic solutions should be developed locally without guidance from irrelevant foreign capitals, and that’s why common sense is not in the museum.

During 2016, the first full year of Vision Zero’s implementation in Los Angeles, fatalities in traffic collisions were up a horrifying 43 percent over the previous year.

Although she might have mentioned that all LA did in 2016 was develop a plan for Vision Zero. And to the best of my knowledge, talking about reducing traffic deaths has never caused a single collision.

Or that the purpose of Vision Zero is not to prevent traffic collisions, but to keep people from dying in them, by recognizing that people will always make mistakes, but better roadway designs can keep those mistakes from killing someone.

And never mind that virtually every traffic solution currently in use in LA came from somewhere else. From traffic lights and stop signs, to the billion dollar HOV lanes on the 405.

About the only innovation we can claim is the right turn on red light. Which isn’t exactly a template for safety.

But the topper is this one, where she goes out of her way to have it both ways.

Although city officials consulted extensively with community groups before turning eight-tenths of a mile of Venice Boulevard into one of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “Great Streets,” the part of the plan that involved taking away a traffic lane in each direction wasn’t exactly displayed on street banners.

So she acknowledges that the city conducted extensive outreach. Then turns around and says it didn’t do enough outreach.

Maybe next time she should do a little basic research so she knows what the hell she’s talking about before flying off the handle.

Or wasting newsprint with uninformed drivel like this.

………

Today’s common theme is bikes and guns.

There are still no suspects in the fatal shooting of a popular Colorado mountain biker as he was riding last week; his body was discovered days later next to a trail.

A Florida bike rider was shot by a driver in an apparent road rage incident; no word on the condition of the victim.

And compared to the previous two cases, a Pennsylvania bicyclist got off easy when an angry driver merely pointed his gun at him following an argument.

Of course, if the drivers had just used their cars instead, it would have been written off as just an accident.

And the bike riders would have been blamed for it.

………

Today’s other common theme is the more traditional form of traffic violence.

A pair of Oklahoma men tried to cover-up a fatal hit-and-run collision by intentionally driving into a highway guard rail to hide the damage from hitting a bike rider.

A Missouri man was doing 93 in a 35 mph zone — and driving on a suspended license — when he slammed into a bicyclist last year; he now faces a charge of first-degree involuntary manslaughter.

A Wisconsin man was turned in by his own wife following a drunken hit-and-run that took the life of man riding a bicycle.

An 83-year old Michigan man faces a misdemeanor charge after killing one bicyclist and injuring another in a rear-end collision last year. Older people may depend on their cars for mobility, but we’ve got to find a way to get them off the roads before it’s too late.

………

Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten bounced back from her horrific crash in the Rio Olympics road cycling race to win world championship in the time trial yesterday.

If you’ve ever questioned how tough women cyclists really are, consider this video of British cyclist Lauren Dolan celebrating her 18th birthday by finishing the time trial despite a horrific leg injury suffered when she hit a manhole cover. Thanks to Jon for the heads-up.

https://twitter.com/JamieHaughey/status/909870748549943296/video/1

……….

Local

Letter writers in the Times say dark tinted windows on cars make it more dangerous for bike riders and pedestrians.

Los Angeles is planning for temporary walkways and bike paths in the recently purchased Taylor Yards railroad site, while plans are developed for a permanent park.

Curbed examines the future of bikeshare in the City of Angels.

Doris Day used to be one of us, riding her bicycle through Beverly Hills to rescue stray animals.

The Beach Reporter looks at Manhattan Beach resident Evens Stievenart’s new world record in the Le Mans Pearl Izumi 24 Hours Cycling race

 

State

Nice story from San Diego, where a nearly blind 94-year old woman took her first bike ride in 15 years on the back of a tandem as part of a Dreams Do Come True program at an Escondido retirement community.

The new dockless bikeshare bikes in San Diego’s Imperial Beach are already getting trashed by users and vandals, less than two weeks after their introduction.

A three mile Wildomar bike lane project has been put on hold after all the bids came in over budget.

A Riverside columnist explain what those green patches in the bike lanes are all about.

Speaking in Oakland, a traffic engineer says protected bike lanes must be the new normal, and urban planners are still trying to undo the damage caused by vehicular cyclists in the 1970s and 80s.

Jens Voigt returns to Marin County to headline the third annual Jensie Gran Fondo of Marin,

 

National

A new study shows teens are increasingly putting off drinking, driving and sex. Which makes sense, since the last one seldom happened without the first two, anyway.

No overreaction here, as TV’s Inside Edition says groups of crazed cyclists are causing “absolute mayhem in the streets.” Meanwhile, a group of young bike riders tried to prove them right by ignoring a ban on bikes to take over New York’s Cross Bronx Expressway.

Houston residents are donating bicycles to help people who lost their cars in Hurricane Harvey.

Kellen Winslow II is one of us, as he tries to sell the home he bought in the Texas hills in hopes of becoming the first pro football player to turn pro cyclist.

A New York woman confirms that riding across the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the city’s most difficult commutes, even if it was better than she expected.

Curbed talks with Philadelphia’s biggest bike advocate.

 

International

Edinburg, Scotland is waiting to give hometown hero Mark Beaumont the welcome he’s earned after a record-breaking 79-day bike ride around the world.

A British personal injury lawyer says the laws must be changed to clarify the rights and obligations of bicyclists, and protect riders who hit someone while riding in a bike lane.

A New Zealand cyclist calls for ripping out a new separated bike lane, after first assuring us he’s one of the good ones — not, he insists, a spandex clad rider on a $5,000 carbon fiber bike, or someone who insists on slowly taking the lane at rush hour.

 

Finally…

Apparently, you’re more dangerous than a truck. And everything you always wanted to know about bicycling in Bogotá but were afraid to ask.

Thanks to Dennis Eckhart for his generous donation to help support this site. Or maybe just help pay for that new hard drive.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Multi-tool bars Streetsblog editor from Metro meeting, and Lyft re-envisions Wilshire Blvd

September 19, 2017 / / 5 comments

Streetsblog editor Joe Linton was kept out of a Metro meeting to discuss the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor Project until he agreed to throw his “dangerous” multi-tool and wrenches into the trash.

And was told he could fish them out after the meeting — after one of the security officers dumped coffee into it.

Just another sign of how bike riders are treated in this city.

Never mind how easy it would have been for someone, anyone, to agree to hold them for him until he came back out. Or just how stupid it is to talk about encouraging bicycling, while actively discouraging bicyclists.

And never mind the kneejerk opposition he found to including bikes in the project once he finally got inside the Metro meeting.

Photo from LA Streetsblog.

………

Lyft envisions a redesigned Wilshire Blvd that reduces the street’s 10 spacious lanes down to just three narrow one, along with dedicated bus lanes, to show what life could be like in a world of shared, self-driving vehicles.

The plan also includes wider, park-like sidewalks and protected bike lanes.

The company says the narrowed street could accommodate twice as many road users and carry four times as many people as it currently does.

Wilshire capacity before redesign

Wilshire capacity after redesign. Charts from CNN

No word on whether the forces attempting to roll back road diets in Mar Vista and Playa del Rey plan to recall the president of Lyft or file suit to stop the concept while it’s still in the vaporware stage.

………

A report on KABC-790 radio says evacuees fleeing the La Tuna fire earlier this month were delayed due to traffic jams caused by the road diets on Foothill Blvd. Although it’s surprising they would have been so surprised by changes that were made five months ago.

………

Three-time US Olympic track cyclist Sarah Hammer retired at age 34, ending a career that began with her first junior title 22 years ago.

Next year’s Giro d’Italia will start just a little outside the country in the ancient Roman suburb called Jerusalem.

It’s official. Scottish cyclist Mark Beaumont rode around the world in less than 80 days, finishing in 78 days, 14 hours and 40 minutes — smashing the previous record by 44 days.

A memorial was unveiled in the English hometown of fallen cyclist Tom Simpson to mark the 50th anniversary of his death on the slopes of Mont Ventoux during the 1967 Tour de France.

……….

Local

An Op-Ed in the LA Times calls the cars the third rail of California politics, saying people will revolt if you slow them down or make driving more expensive. Which, as we’ve seen recently, is all too true.

Pasadena’s Art Center in planning a bikeway inspired by the historic California Cycleway to connect its separated campuses.

Parisian haute couture menswear brand Berluti has opened in Beverly Hills, with a made-to-order bespoke bicycle among the shop’s offerings.

Simon Cowell is one of us, as he goes bike riding with his family in the former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills, which is finally starting to show some promise.

Curbed calls the Marvin Braude Bike Path through Santa Monica LA’s most beautiful bike path, even though the Santa Monica section is actually in… wait for it… Santa Monica. I’ve heard the beachfront bike path called many things in my many years here, but never The Strand.

The South Bay’s Easy Reader News looks at the controversy over Vista del Mar and the Playa del Rey lane reductions, albeit from a mostly windshield perspective.

Long Beach police are looking for a bike-riding scumbag who’s been exposing himself to underage girls.

 

State

UberEats will now be delivering some of their food orders by bicycle in San Diego.

This is why you shouldn’t chase a bike thief yourself. A pair of Visalia men nearly got shot by a bike thief after they chased him down when they saw him take a bike from their garage.

A Modesto Op-Ed calls for greater enforcement of bike safety laws, especially California’s too-often ignored three-foot passing law

The International Cycling Safety Conference in Davis will explore how smart city technology can help make urban areas more bicycle friendly.

A homeless Redding woman was stabbed by another homeless woman following an argument as the victim was riding along a canal.

Eureka police are looking for a fleeing DUI suspect who hijacked a woman’s bike at gunpoint, before trading down by jacking a car as he rode her bike through a mall parking lot.

 

National

Bicycling talks with cyclists who credit their helmets with saving their skulls.

Seattle permanently removed a traffic lane on a downtown street to make room for protected bike lanes. Despite mixed opinions, no politicians appear to have been recalled and no one’s filed suit to stop it yet, unlike a certain SoCal city we could name.

Bicycle Retailer says this week’s Interbike show in Las Vegas is still the best way for smaller brands to get noticed.

A popular Colorado man was found shot and killed three days after he disappeared while on a bike ride this past Thursday; police are treating the case as a homicide.

Counter protesters interrupted a press conference by a New York state legislator who wants to halt plans to install a protected bike lane on a deadly Queens boulevard.

 

International

A new study shows triathletes face twice the risk of dropping dead during a competition as marathon runners, with the greatest risk occurring during the swimming leg of the race.

Brakeless fixie-rider Charlie Alliston has been sentenced to 18 months after being convicted of wanton and furious driving for killing a London woman as she was crossing the street. Thanks to Allyson Vought and John McBrearty for the heads-up.

Caught on video: Nothing like a little no-hands dab and dance while riding on a British street.

British bike historian Carlton Reid examines why the country’s most bike-friendly urban design failed to encourage bicycling; short answer, they made it too easy to drive.

Bicycling deaths and serious injuries are down 20% since UK police began an undercover operation to catch drivers passing too close to bicyclists. Maybe that will convince the LAPD to finally give it a try.

Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, will receive the equivalent of nearly $30 million dollars to convert their city centers to bike-friendly mini-Hollands.

German police are looking for a cyclist who interfered with rescue personnel to film a dying motorcyclist, rather than offering assistance before paramedics arrived as the law requires. Seriously, WTF is wrong with some people?

An Australian news site looks at what happens in the aftermath of a bicycling collision, including the obvious observation that it’s always the person on the bike who loses.

Aussie authorities blame tourists using GPS devices for a crash that injured a bike rider. So naturally, social media blames the people on two wheels.

Caught on video two: A dog sits upright in the saddle behind a bike-riding girl in an undisclosed Asian country, with its paws wrapped around her waist like a child trying to hold on.

 

Finally…

Who needs motor doping when you can just fire up the afterburners. Or maybe just let hurricane-force winds give you a gentle little nudge.

And now you, too, can own your very own Beastie.

Unless you’d rather ride a bike made of whisky casks.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: The war on bikes goes on, catching up on last week’s news, and Mar Vista CC takes a pass

September 18, 2017 / / 5 comments

My laptop is finally back in working order, after ten days and a hard drive-sized hole in my wallet. Which means we’re now back in business, with a lot to catch up on.

And my apologies in advance if I don’t you credit you for something you may have sent me. I’ve tried to keep track of who sent me stories while my computer was down, but may have lost a few along the way.

………

The war on bikes goes on. And on.

In a must read, LA’s Peter Flax has authored a very hard-hitting piece about the dangers people face on the streets simply for riding a bicycle.

Like it or not, cyclists are engaged in a civil-rights battle — about whether we deserve a truly safe place on the road, whether people who kill us with cars should face the same legal consequences as people who kill with other weapons, whether hundreds of human lives represent acceptable collateral damage in a properly lubricated car-focused economy.

I love riding fondos and ogling handbuilt frames, but there is actual blood in the street and people need to decide where they stand. You have to decide where you stand.

Someone has been sabotaging a new Portland mountain bike park, stringing dangerous trip lines across the trails. Thanks to Jeff Vaugh for the heads-up.

Colorado police are investigating after several nails and screws were scattered across the roadway along the route of a popular charity ride.

Australian police are looking for a suspect who may be responsible for tossing hundreds of tacks on a popular bicycling route for the last two years.

An Aussie writer says bicyclists who believe we have to earn the respect of drivers on roadways dominated by motor vehicles are suffering from the Lycra equivalent of Stockholm syndrome.

………

Speaking of catching up, here are just a few of the more important stories we missed.

In one of the best stories of the week, members of the Low Riders bike club built a new food cart for the Hollywood vendor whose cart was overturned by an angry man.

Keep your eyes open for a number of nearly identical hot bikes hitting the market, after 40 bicycles worth $50,000 were stolen from a Washington high school program to promote diversity and help get low income kids on bikes. Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the link.

An Idaho writer tells drivers and bicyclists to shut up already, while he explains what the state’s bike laws really are, including the Idaho stop law. Meanwhile, a writer for the Washington Post says maybe the Idaho stop should be legalized in DC to keep drivers from losing their minds over something that’s probably safer for bicyclists.

A Kansas man is accused of jumping the curb with his truck to intentionally run down a man riding his bike on the sidewalk after a dispute at a soup kitchen. Thanks again to Jeff Vaughn.

Patrick Lynch forwards news that Corpus Christi TX police reminded both adults and kids to ride in the street after a 12-year boy was hit by a car while riding on the sidewalk. Even though, as he notes, the kid was hit on a four-lane virtual highway with a 45 mph speed limit and a substandard gutter-bike lane. And I’m sure no Texan would ever speed on a wide-open road like that, right?

Bikeshare helped people in Houston get around after Hurricane Harvey. Meanwhile, a Houston bicyclist was struck by a car while trying to cross a busy freeway, which raises questions of whether alternative routes were still damaged due to the hurricane. Thanks to Bryan Dotson for the tip.

A New York woman was critically injured when a drunk driver plowed into a group of bicyclists stopped at a red light during a century ride; the riders said it looked like he accelerated into the group intentionally after crashing into a parked minivan.

The 76-year old owner of a Delaware TV station was killed in a collision while riding his bicycle. Thanks again to Jeff Vaughn.

The Washington Post reports that bicycling to work means better health and a longer life.

A British Columbia lawyer who specializes in getting dangerous drivers off the hook says “arrogant cyclists” seldom obey the laws governing bicycling, and drivers should take pictures of their scofflaw behavior and report them to the police. And yet he somehow fails to see any hint of a double standard there.

………

If everything went according to plan, Scottish cyclist Mark Beaumont will have set the new record for riding around the world by the time you read this, arriving in Paris in just 79 days — one day ahead of schedule.

………

Something many cyclists can relate to, as Tour de France and Vuelta winner Chris Froome says he hates looking in the mirror because he looks ridiculous with his massive legs and tiny chest.

A pair of teenagers took the top prizes in the Wolfpack Hustle Forsyth Cup, presented by BikinginLA sponsor Thomas Forsyth.

……….

Local

The Mar Vista Community Council cited parliamentary rules in delaying a revote on the Venice Blvd Great Streets project, despite several motions calling on the city to restore the street to its original dangerous configuration — much to the frustration of a passionate and apparently evenly split crowd.

Glendale Assemblywoman Laura Friedman has secured $20 million in state funding to complete the final phase of the Glendale Narrows Riverwalk, one of three bike and pedestrian bridges planned for the LA River.

Long Beach considers a 40-year plan to increase density near the Los Cerritos Wetlands and Alamitos Bay, including new bike lanes, mid-block crossing and widened sidewalks to create a balance between vehicular traffic and alternative transportation.

 

State

Around 100 women and men turned out for a ride designed to get more women on their bikes in Imperial Beach.

A 68-year old Palo Alto woman had her purse stolen from her bike when she stopped to talk with a group of teenagers who were blocking the bike path she was riding on.

Drivers are running over the flex posts marking what passes for protected bike lanes in Oakland. Which should come as no surprise to anyone here in Los Angeles.

 

National

Once again, Burning Man attendees abandoned somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 bicycles in the Nevada desert, which will be turned over charitable groups to salvage what they can to donate to people in need.

A San Antonio TX bike rider was stabbed by an angry pedestrian after bumping into him on the sidewalk. Thanks to Steve Katz for the heads-up.

Clip-in pedals are technically banned in Kansas because they lack front and rear reflectors; state legislators promise to reconsider the requirement. California requires a reflector on the pedal, shoe or ankle visible for 200 feet from the front and rear.

A pair of Gold Star parents completed a ride across the US at New York’s Ground Zero to honor families who had lost sons and daughters in the military.

A new proposal would create a 1,650 mile biking, hiking and walking trail connecting New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The Department of DIY strikes again, as Philly bike advocates replace missing plastic bollards on a protected bike lane with toilet plungers, which were still there 24 hours later.

Baltimore has temporarily shut down its bikeshare system to tighten security after losing too many bicycles to theft and vandalism.

North Carolina’s LimeBike has brought dockless bikeshare to eight communities across the US, including SoCal’s Imperial Beach, with plans to expand to dozens more; needless to say, not everyone in IB is thrilled.

If you’re going to take part in a New Orleans area charity ride, don’t leave your Corgi at home. Note to Times-Picayune: not all mass bike rides are races. And if your headline is about dogs, don’t illustrate it with a photo of meat on the grill. Seriously.

A Key West bike shop turned its phone over to victims of Hurricane Irma to let relatives know they were okay.

 

International

London’s Evening Standard goes for a ride in a cycling team car. And presumably didn’t hit anyone.

London’s Guardian has taken an extended look at bicycling recently:

UK cycling organizations call for opening up more trails in Wales for bicycling, where bikes are currently banned on 79% of the trail network.

Inspired by his grandson, a British engineer is spending his retirement building a bike brand and making a new foldie ebike.

A Brit junkman reclaims trashed bicycles, and remakes them into kids custom-built tricycles, cruisers and three-wheel choppers.

Current or former students are suspected in the theft of 20 bicycles worth $10,000 from a New Zealand high school.

 

Finally…

Always carry a bicycle in your truck in case you need to pedal away from a crash. Now you can use a single app for bikeshare and carshare, as long as you’re willing to move to Germany.

And you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to ride a bike.

But seriously, why wouldn’t you?

Thanks to Megan Lynch for that final link.

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